


Silver Metal Stories

by JessKo



Category: The Silver Metal Lover - Tanith Lee
Genre: Androids, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, M/M, Other, POV First Person, POV Multiple, Paris (City), Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:09:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22111612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessKo/pseuds/JessKo
Summary: Several drabbles set in the universe of “Silver Metal Lover” by Tanith Lee, Jane's friends all coming together to reunite her with her beloved in Paris.
Relationships: Clovis/Original Male Character, Davideed/Silt and other Minerals, Jane/Silver
Comments: 10
Kudos: 6





	1. Clovis and the City of Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I just finished reading this novel and really fell in love with the setting and characters. As such, I wanted to create a few stories revolving around them in this universe.

I’d not really wanted to come to Paris. Well, I wanted to see Jane. I wanted to meet some new people. But Paris was not exactly on my bucket list. 

But, Paris is where Jane was, and there was a city’s worth of new people, so as I disembarked the Flyer I tried to keep a positive outlook. Smile, Clovis, for the world is a stage and we are performing under the scrutinizing eyes of so many… 

Jane had told me that her apartment complex was not far from the stop, “Impossible to miss, for I have had it painted it in all the colors of the rainbow with singing sirens leaping from crystal waves!” Not nearly as beautiful as the work of Silver, I heard in my mind. She’d never admit it, but I knew it was true. 

Regardless, eventually I found myself facing the fantastic sea-creatures, singing their blessed little sun faded hearts out on ancient stucco, the cracks showing through the paler colors in the mural. The face of a particularly pale siren, one who resembled our dear friend Egyptia a bit more than could be coincidence, was bisected by a gnarly break in the material, the nose looking misshapen because of it. Silver would have found a way to use the cracks as lines and shadows, anything but this. 

I tsked as I buzzed the front door bell, announcing my name and business (which should have been fucking but I don’t swing that way, my love-quest would have to wait) to the automated machine. Hardly a minute later the door flung open to reveal Jane, blonde hair tied up in a bun nearly as loose as her white linen sleeves. 

“Clovis! I’m so glad that you could make it!” She still talked like that machine, syllables timed like a song. Songs were her life, I suppose, working to write lyrics for the pop band of the month. If a song had Jane working on it, it was bound to be a success. Last I heard she had a four year waiting list of artists trying to get just a chorus from her. A full song would cost one dearly, so only the most established numbers could afford it. 

“I’d not miss this for the world.” I lied. There were some events that might have kept me away, but Jane was more important to me than most things, so here I was. 

She beamed, ushered me in and up the stairway, lit by neon signs likely thrifted. The only thing I could stand to buy second hand was clothing, things made in the 19th and 20th centuries were just of such higher quality. Well, the right things. 

The coffine was cooler than I preferred, and the conversation consisted of nothing I did not already know, but as always I did enjoy Jane’s company. Silver really was the best thing to happen for her, even if it did spoil me for life with that wonderful, magical night we spent together. I can’t even fathom where to start creating a toy that could do half of what came pre-programmed in it. Him. I mentally corrected myself. Jane would cry if i called it ‘it’. Him ‘it’. 

I still kept my hair dyed red. A darker shade, and I would never cut bangs into my hair. But the color suited me. I wondered in passing if that bothered Jane. She had confided in me that in some lights, in the corner of her eye, she could confuse me for it. Him. And would feel her heart skip before realizing it was just me. Just little old Clovis, the M-B who can’t keep a boyfriend for more than a month. It’s my own fault, and I regret nothing. But the reputation has started to spread around after so many years, and well, now I am in Paris, and there are so many new people to meet. 

But here I am. In Jane’s one bedroom apartment. She owned the whole building, but I insisted on staying elsewhere. I could afford it, and didn’t want her to fuss over my comings and goings. She’s a very caring soul, which I appreciate, but I don’t need another parent. My fathers are just fine, thank you. 

Escaping that painted building with the segmented Egyptia, I wandered the streets, grabbing something hot for dinner as the sun set. I had chosen my wardrobe carefully for this trip, long trailing cloaks and leather boots and clips that glinted just so in my hair. I’d brushed up on my French, just enough to be polite in public, but kept an eye out for those who looked just as out of place as myself. 

Jane used to tell me I looked like a frog among ferrets when walking through the city, or rather, the parts of the city I’d not frequented like a specter most days. The route from my apartment to the river cafe, or the flyer station, and so on. She’d had a year with Silver to learn the layout of the slums, so of course I could not pick my way through as she had, trained by a talking GPS system. 

She’d explained the route to the market well enough, but as I ate my meal, the directions slipped my mind, so I just wandered. Worst case scenario, I had paid for international Policode, so if I stumbled into the wrong sorts of people I could flash the fob tucked under my shirt and be on my way. 

In just a few blocks, I’d met a few potential bedmates, but nothing worth pursuing. Perhaps I’d missed a memo, but it seemed that Paris was a woman’s city, couples of females passing by in the dozens before I stumbled upon another man who didn’t stare at me in the ‘frog in a sea of ferrets’ way. Maybe I should have stuck to my original plan of Barcelona… 

“Monsieur!” I heard, from behind me. Turning around, I saw a small crowd of people. Probably just a busker trying for a coin. “Monsieur… Please! I remember you!” 

The group parted, and I could not believe my eyes. Catching the final flaming apparatus he juggled, the performer gave me a curt bow. “I would just like to thank you. Those years ago, you were the reason I was able to come home again.” 

There was no doubt in my mind of just who this was, and without thinking I stepped closer. The fire crept up his metal rods so he continued his act, spinning flame casting shifting light on angular features. Black hair, close cropped and dusted with grey, shone and seemed to glitter as light reflected off of small mirrored discs on his coat sleeves. 

“Last time I saw you, I didn’t get your name.” I started in my elementary French. Oh, why didn’t I study more. “What is it?” 

“Argyine, but you may call me as my friends do.” He switched over to heavily accented English, and mentally I thanked him for saving me any more embarrassment.

“And what might that be?” 

“Argy. And yours?”

“Clovis.” 

“Is that what your friends call you?” 

“Certainly. And don’t try and shorten it.” 

He flashed a wicked smile and tossed his rods even higher, twisting his body between catches to show off an impressive physique, especially seeing he must be nearing my own age of fifty by now. The Rejuvinex had kept me looking closer to thirty, but Argy hardly needed it. The fine lines suited him, as did this enchanting fire-light. 

Entranced, I watched his entire act, the whole hour block, and when he finished, my heart sank, needing more. I’d just have to ask for it. 

He asked first. 

“So, Clo, will I be seeing more of you on this beautiful evening.” 

“It’s Clovis, but yes, I would like that.” 

“Your place or mine, then, Clo?” 

* * *

Eventually, I had to move into Jane’s building. The hotel forced me out, stating that there was a six week limit on rooms due to high demand. I tried to fight it, but even a bribe did not make them budge. 

Again, the coffine was cold. 

“So, it seems you haven’t found a way to get rid of this one without your rigged seance table.” Jane joked regarding my roomate, downing her own cup quickly. That was probably how she could stand it, drink it the moment it came out so the coolness would not set in. 

“Something like that. He won’t leave.” I lied, but only partially. The truth was, I hadn’t asked him to go. 

Jane laughed. “Well, I won’t be helping you in any of your insane schemes. Good luck.” 

I wouldn’t need it. “Thanks.” 

Setting the cup outside, I stood up, looking out over the city. In the twilight, you couldn't see the balcony bubbles that dominated the skyline, their lights not yet activated and clear domes invisible, reverting the view to its classical glory. 

Jane watched me, I could feel her eyes on my back, but I didn’t budge until I had drank my fill of the scenery. The ground floor apartment had advantages, but the view was not one of them.

When I turned around, she wore a knowing grin. She didn’t say anything though, which I appreciated. Jane was a good friend, never pried. Sometimes she accused, but tonight she decided to abstain, which again, I appreciated. After the incident with it, him, Silver (I should just call it Silver. But the name even could upset her. Him him him…) she had accused me of quite a lot of things, and the habit stuck even though I was entirely innocent, and she knew it. 

“Have a good night, Clovis.” 

I nodded to her, the returning comment not needing to be said, and eventually found myself out on the street. Argy would be performing on the corner of Mairie and Four tonight, and I intended to go and lean on a pillar, at the back of the crowd, and watch. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise we will be hearing more from Jane (and Silver!) in later chapters!  
> On a side, if you are not familiar with the universe:  
> Flyer = Commuter flying bus, essentially  
> Coffine = Coffee  
> M-B = Mirror Biased, essentially the equivalent to gay and lesbian  
> And the rigged seance table would tell lovers with whom Clovis did not wish to continue relations that the romance was cursed and they must go, or something of that nature... Quite effective if a bit unethical.


	2. Jane and the Electronic Spectre

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I had to reunite Silver and Jane. Tried to put my own unique twist on the prospect of his ‘robotic soul’ I hope you enjoy it!

Jane hired humans for just about every aspect of her building in Paris. Rather than spacemen, she has people come in four days a week to clean and perform necessary repairs to the structure. A call center, something quite antiquated and nearly a dead industry, handled the transfer of video calls. The only thing that was automated was the front door, which transmitted a pre-recorded greeting and prompted the visitor to indicate whom they would like to ring for access. But even this was a bare minimum construction, with no other settings. 

One who did not know Jane well would applaud the woman for her commitment to providing jobs for people. But I knew Jane, better than most I’d say, and I knew why this was. It was because she could not bear to be around robots. Not after Silver. 

Not after me. 

It was because of this that I, trapped as I was as electrical currents and lines of code, could not contact her. 

Spirits know I tried, flashing messages along the ticker-tape of newscasts and transmitting my own voice over songs on the radio, but Jane avoided it all, only listening to prerecorded tapes and finding visual streams to be infuriatingly unwatchable. Not after what happened that night… 

When Clovis arrived, I felt what I had not in many years again. I felt hope, the strange flicker-spark that I’d only known in regards to Jane. He’d nearly rioted at the lack of technology in her space. Luckily, I knew how to read lips, and the windows were not glared at this hour, or I’d not have been able to see what was going on from my perch in a security camera the next building over. 

The fit he wanted to throw over a manual coffine machine alone could have been legendary. I laugh about it now, or rather, I would laugh about it, if I had a voice and a mouth and a body. I miss having a body. A body that could walk alongside others, press itself up against another. A body that could be seen. Could be loved. 

But as I am, all I can do is watch. Watch and hope. 

Clovis came and left, but he never stayed. That is, until exactly six weeks later. He came with two taxis full of luggage and moved into the building. Now, perhaps, things just might change. 

Jane fought him on it, it is one of the rare times I’d truly seen her upset, but she acquiesced, and the items arrived, one by one. A downgraded call system, one that did not support video, was the first to be installed. 

One might think that I’d be upset over this, but it was a call system connected to the greater electronic network, wired into the data hubs and ripe for me to… I truly hate to say that I possess things like a spectre of sorts, that is to admit that perhaps I died, but I’ve yet to find a better word for what I do. Jane would know a better word. Her world is words, stringing them together into melodies that would make a robot weep with their beauty. I’d say I knew this for fact, but without eyes I cannot weep. But if I could, I would. 

Following newly placed wires, I took my post and waited, anxiety thrumming through my consciousness. Or maybe the equipment was poorly installed, human error is always a factor (as using human labor to install the devices was part of Jane’s agreement) and the anxiety was nearly shocking me. Or I was just nervous. 

It was a full day before Clovis picked up the phone. I’d rehearsed what I wanted to say a thousand times a second, and now it was my chance. 

“I’m going to ring them, make sure they stay open so late.” He’d said, and I visualized his hand reaching out. Possessing a call system without video capability made me blind, but I’d be able to speak and listen. That is all I would need. 

The outgoing call button was depressed, and I imagined myself inhaling deeply, a very human preparation for what I was about to do. 

“Hello Clovis.” 

“-actually working? Oh jeez it spoke! Uh… Why do you want Clovis? He’s not here.” The face I now saw before me was not that of Clovis. 

Wait. Why could I see? My mind raced to assess my situation, this hardly made sense. My mind? Why were my processes suddenly isolated to a physical location? 

“Calm down, I won’t hurt you.” The voice that belongs to the face that was not that of Clovis spoke. I must have been malfunctioning, trying to make heads and tails of this. It used to scare Jane when I did this. She said my eyes went black and my spine stiffened. I had no spine, so the eyes must have given it away.

“Who are you? Where am I?” I was a head. A disembodied head. I was back in my head, but that was all that there was. 

“I’m Davideed, and this is my flat.” 

“Why are we in your flat?” 

The person, Davideed, sighed. “Because I’m getting you back into working order.” 

I recalled, once, Jane spoke of someone with such a name. A distant friend off in another country studying. Could this be the same one? It had to be. I had to hope it was. 

“Why?” 

“Because you are dear to someone dear to me, and when given the chance, I took the risk. I took you… This.” I opened my mouth, oh what a wonderful sensation to be able to do again, but he did not let me interrupt. “No. Stop asking questions. I’m going to have to power you back down. You’re back, so I can give you away now. Before anyone…” 

Davideed turned me, or my head rather, over and reached inside, fumbling about for the power controls. His voice was high, trilling with worry. It was obvious he was not used to being sneaky, or working with delicate electronics such as myself. Jane had said he studied silt, and I am anything but silt. 

“Before anyone finds me.” It made sense, he had risked connecting this head to the electronic networks, and like a magnet I was pulled through the data hubs and back ‘home’. 

“Exactly.” 

And then the world was black and days or weeks or maybe even decades passed in the blink of an eye. When I was in low power mode, I was aware but frozen. But with power disconnected, it truly was like human slumber, without the dreams. 

“-sure it is him?” 

“Absolutely, Jane. Might look a little different without the skin and hair-“ Oh. I had lost my hair. How unfortunate. “-but it’s him.” 

Opening my eyes, I saw her, and I laughed. “Hallo, Jane.” 

For a nanosecond I worried that she had changed too much, that maybe she did not want to see me again. Maybe I was being selfish, trying to find her when everything she had done for the past twenty six years and three months and four days and sixteen hours was designed to block me, and my memory, and anything like me out. 

But then she smiled and cried and held the head that contained me, my head, out in front of her own. Oh how she cried, in her life I think she could fill a swimming pool with those tears. But today, she would hardly be able to fill a saucer, as they ran dry quickly and we began to speak. I realized that I had nothing to fear, that my hope was not misplaced, and even though we were both a little different, her blond hair gone platinum and my body melted down and skin burned away, we were still very much in love. 

“It is you, Silver!” She said thirteen times in that first hour. And I “It is you, Jane!” 


	3. Davideed and What is Certainly Not Silt

I’m a geologist. And no, I did not get into geology to study the asteroid, like pretty much everyone else. I like the good old fashioned dirt and rocks we have had here on Earth since the beginning. Seeing this, I suppose I owe the asteroid a bit of thanks. The impact did create new fissures in which samples of bedrock can be taken with unprecedented ease. 

I’m not interested in bedrock either. For me, silt is where it’s at. Civilization was born from silt. Remember your 6th grade history lessons? Fertile Crescent and Mesopotamia? No? Well, go read a textbook. I’m not a professor. 

But we’re not here to talk about silt, are we? 

No. You want to know about how I found Silver. Or rather, what was left of him. 

I won’t start at the beginning. Seeing you don’t even remember history, I doubt you will care about my research trip. You should, but you don’t. So let’s jump to after that. There was an opportunity to travel out West, then, to intern with Electronic Metals Ltd. in their newly established farming equipment section. 

What does farming equipment have to do with silt, you may ask? Everything! You would know that if you remembered Mesopotamia. 

I won’t bore you with any details. Having worked with such equipment in my research, I figured it would be beneficial to understand how they operate and could be constructed. Plus, there is more money in manufacturing than research, so if I found it even a bit interesting, I could build up a nest egg here before returning to my passions. I had spent my every last cent expanding my residency in South America, and with few publishable results, it was time I returned to something that paid. 

Unfortunately for my bank accounts, I found manufacturing to be dull and lifeless, so in the long shifts alone in the warehouses, I ended up wandering around. Ducking into halls away from the assembly line and exploring the upper scaffolding. Nothing too crazy, but certainly enough to be fired if caught. Luckily, security was incredibly low, probably because the facility was rushed to be opened. After the disaster that was the Advanced Format line, Electronic Metals were really scrambling to get back on its feet. That’s probably the only reason I got the position in the first place. 

One day, however, the strangest thing happened. I got a call from Egyptia. Yes, that Egyptia. The one from Jane’s book. Oh, of course you remember that one. 

Anyways, the call was entirely unexpected, our short-lived romance had not ended on the best of terms. I had found her love to be like a swaddling blanket, all encompassing, inescapable, and absolutely suffocating. In fact, I had learned fairly quickly in that affair that I found all forms of romantic (and sexual) love to be unbearable. I’m perfectly happy with my work and my associates, thank you. 

Egyptia did not take the news well, apparently already having planned out an entire life for us both, and in her usual dramatic fashion she staged a funeral, double wide casket and all, for our departure. I’d been looking for an excuse to leave the city to somewhere more rural for some time, so I took that as my cue to leave. And I left, to the other side of the world essentially. Miss my friends, but the distance was needed so I could sort my thoughts. 

Speaking of thoughts, that call provoked many. Apparently Jane had left her for Paris some time ago, can not blame her one bit, and now Clovis had informed her that he’d be staying there as well. She wanted someone, anyone, to come back to her, being tied to the theater company and all. I told her I was indisposed. After what went on between us, I’m not sure we could ever interact on pleasant platonic terms, and for my own sake I fabricated that I was rising in the ranks of the farming equipment world. 

When she threatened to buy the entirety of the company to force me out, I threatened to use my geologist powers to drop a meteor on her theater, and ended the call. I can see it now, news of the newest play, A Fallen Star! Galactic Terror Arcs Through the Heavens In This Original Tragedy! 

The more I think about it, the more I’d consider seeing it, even if it is the usual romantic mumbo that Egyptia is known for. Might even win an award for originality, with the trend of reimagined Greek themes still prevailing. 

But yes, after the call from Egyptia, I got to thinking about my time with her, and the others, and so when the basement I uncovered yielded a stripped metal head, I decided it might be worth the risk to recover it. Sneaking it into my pack was almost too easy, so before leaving I scanned the human-like object for trackers and low and behold I found two: one was attached to the roof of his mouth, and another was hidden inside the eyelid. Removing them felt a bit morbid with how lifelike the head was, even without it’s skin, but it had to be done. This sort of thing was much more likely to land me in prison than just being fired. 

Now, advanced format robotics are even further from silt than farming equipment, so it was not easy to restore it. But I’d gleaned enough information about hardware and central operating cores to connect the wires that had been roughly torn out to deactivate the poor thing and then connect it to the electronic network through my flat’s portal, just long enough to wake it up before severing the connection. 

When I activated it, it said the damndest thing. 

“Hello, Clovis.” 


	4. Egyptia and a Head Without a Body

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter, a check in some weeks later with Jane and Silver, and their newest guest in Paris: Egyptia.

“Well you can’t just leave him like this. How awful such an existence must be, to simply be a head on a silver platter!” I exclaimed, channeling my inner actress to draw attention to the horror at hand. 

“I happen to be quite happy here.” The head on the platter said. “I have my eyes to see, my mouth to speak, and everything else I need to be with my love.” 

Jane seemed ready to cry already, yet she did not. “Davideed only found the head, and trying to source a body would be too suspicious. Like Silver said, we are happy as-is.” 

“Oh, but don’t you want to embrace each other! Walk together! All the things a normal couple would do? Make love, even.” 

Narrowing his strange red eyes at me, I swear they even glowed in the low light of Jane’s apartment Silver just frowned. Yes, he certainly did wish for these things, but he was denied it because of his and Jane’s fears and complacency. She had even gone so far as to cover all of the windows with heavy sheets, blocking out the sunlight and lovely views this place afforded her. It was no wonder she was looking exceptionally pale these days. Later that day, I would have to insist on going out, just the two of us. 

“Egyptia, please.” Jane said softly, tearing me from my thoughts. “We are together and that is what matters. Can’t you see that?” 

“What is the point of being together like this, you might as well be on a video call.” 

Silver’s frown only deepened and he coughed to interrupt me, it had to be for that reason for why else would a robotic head need to cough? Even as just a shiny head he was still pretty realistic, I had to give him that. That was not the only thing I’d give him. 

“Come, Jane. We are going shopping.” She resisted at first, but if I am anything I am persistent and soon we were walking through a blessedly sunny Parisian market. At first we just looked at garments and things, home decorations and sculptures. I ended up purchasing a darling little ceramic kitten for my bathroom. But I had a true motive and slowly corralled us towards the technology sector of the city. 

It was not long before Jane caught onto what I was planning, however. “Egyptia, we should go back now. I’ve had enough, and it’s quite hot out today.” 

“Oh don’t worry, you are nowhere near burning, dear Jane.” I sang more than spoke, continuing on track. But, unfortunately for me, Jane was also persistent these days, and stubborn, and it seemed I'd already been given my victory for the day getting her out at all. 

Turning back, she said quietly but firmly. “I do not like leaving him alone for long, he’s disconnected from the networks and does not have much he can do to entertain himself besides…” 

“Let me guess, he sings to himself.” I inserted into the conversation, accepting my defeat but not giving up entirely on the day. 

Jane blushed then, cheeks flushing. “Well, yes. He’s very good at it.” 

“Oh trust me, I know. I was the one who first purchased him, remember, to entertain at my party to celebrate that darling little role I’d secured for myself.” Ah it was a wonderful party indeed. A party at which I believe Jane had fallen in love, sweet and innocent little thing she once was. So naive yet so very feeling. She’d changed a lot since that party, but yet was still fundamentally the same sad girl revolting against her mother and giving everything away on a whim of love. 

I had long since given up on true love, rather choosing to indulge in flings with men and women alike who suited my fancy at the time. I suppose Clovis and I had that in common to some extent, but he tended to invite lovers to stay and I just cannot imagine allowing myself to become so haunted. 

Yet, Jane seemed to have found this with her dismembered head. It was all a program, but if it made her life better, more power to her to engage with technology so intimately. 

“I know you are just trying to help,” Jane said plainly, “but you are only going to make it worse acting like this.” Keying open her front door, Jane ushered me into her building, continuing. “He is an illegal item to possess, don’t you remember the protests and the company hunting him down despite our best efforts that night?” 

I nodded, and noticed as we went up the stairs that now Jane was truly crying. “I do. I remember how brutally they stole him away from me, and to know that he was found by Davideed of all people so far away and in such a terrible state like that? It breaks my heart, Egyptia. Please don’t help them break it again.” 

Yes, this must be true love between them then, dismembered head or not. “Forgive me, Jane. I was misguided in my efforts to help him, no, you both.” 

At the top of the stairs, we both cried, held in each other’s arms and I fear this was the first human contact Jane had experienced in quite some time judging by the force she was holding me close with, arms nearly shaking in exertion. “Jane, I think I will stay the week, if that is agreeable to you.” 

Jane looked up, unburying her face from my shoulder. “But your show-”

I clicked my tongue. “They will just have to find another person for the role. I am currently indisposed.” 

She smiled, and I knew my choice was the right one. She had her lover, but now she needed a friend. It would not be hard to find a new theater to join here in Paris, my reputation certainly proceeds me, and I could turn a week into years should Jane like that. 

As we approached the door to her apartment, we could hear muffled singing, and Jane perked right up. “Yes, I’d like that, since you are willing.” 

Returning to the apartment, Silver did not stop his singing and Jane joined in for a duet as I set a pot to boil for some tea. Even if his appearance was unsettling, it brought her joy and I could appreciate anything that would cheer up teary little Jane. Perhaps, a stationary mannequin body would be inconspicuous enough for her to purchase and perch his head upon, and we could at least make him not naked. Maybe that is what bugged me so, his obvious nudity. Yes, I would suggest that tomorrow, but for now we would drink tea and talk the evening away and just bask in the connections formed over so many years all reunited at last.


End file.
